Reset
by LionshadeSC
Summary: At the end of the fatal Genocide Run, Frisk is faced with the decision: mercy for the rest of the universe, or a continuation of their path of destruction? Options A or B. . . Frisk chooses C. a one shot fic in which i let Frisk escape losing their soul after genocide run to instead confront their choice head-on and deal with the guilt afterward. self indulgent and ooc


You stared at the small figure in the darkened distance, and though they smiled at you with a grin that shone with the purest intentions, you could feel and recognize that the darkness around you wasn't due to the physical darkness of the room, but was radiating from _them_.

The bloodied knife was sharply cold in your hand, and the steel glinted in the darkness as you tightened your grip around it. Your sins leading up to this moment weighed you down as they crawled up your back, and whispers seemed to arise from nowhere, harshly speaking unintelligible words in your ears you could not decipher. Panicked, you whipped your head both directions to confront the source of the whispers as your suddenly sweating hands tightened onto the handle of the weapon. You wanted to cry out against the voices, but they went silent as you searched, and though you called out and dared to face the darkness. . .

Nobody came.

You settled your cold and wary gaze back to the child that stood patiently in their thick and oozing darkness.

"I. . .am 'Chara,'" they stated while maintaining the same friendly smile, their eyes refusing to reveal anything that could expose them.

You listened in silence as they spoke, praising you for your partnership and how far you've come together, explaining what they were, and they goaded you about continuing on to destroy this world, and move on to another.

A part of your soul howled with hunger and sadistic greed. _Yes! Destroy this world! Destroy i__t! _You recognized your own curiosity as well, at what would happen if you destroyed this world, what it would be like to go on and do the same to others, but you also reflected upon your second option, the option to not destroy what you had already nearly vanquished. You could feel your soul tug between the two options, somewhat torn with what to do.

The figure awaited patiently in the distance.

Their patience gave you time to think.

And to reflect.

You thought about many things, what you had done to reach this point, and what you had avoided. The friendships you had chosen to leave behind to see how this timeline would unravel out of your own twisted curiosity.

Toriel's gaping shock from you slashing your knife at her to claim her HP; Papyrus' trusting gaze and faith you could improve, even when you had defeated him; Undyne's glare of determination to defeat you despite all the odds stacked against her. . .

Sans' glowing eye flashing blue and yellow, glaring with an expression you could only describe as . . . hate.

You had never seen him look at you like that before.

At the thought of your past friends, and the knowledge of what you had done to them, it made you all the more aware of the sins crawling up your back.

It led you to an ultimate feeling of shame, a deep, remorseful shame you had not felt during this entire timeline, even when killing your closest friends.

You lifted your head to stare at the child in the distance, Chara, smiling and non-threatening as they patiently awaited your decision.

Thoughtful, you frowned at their confidence, and you gazed at the two options before you, destruction or mercy.

Two options held in your own hands, but as you stared at them, you knew it wasn't really your decision. Chara would not be confident unless they knew they were going to win. And you knew Chara, because you had experienced the same confidence going through this timeline, slaughtering monsters at your whim, knowing that no matter what happened, _they _were going to turn to dust and die.

This thought flooded you with sudden understanding and insight as you lifted your head to squint at Chara.

_You _were the monster here. . . no matter what happened, whether you chose destruction or mercy, Chara was going to _win_.

And they knew that. It didn't matter which way this "deal" was presented; Chara would have the upper hand either way.

So in desperation, you felt your soul stretch out, searching for a third option, a way out. Chara's smile faltered as they blinked and stared at you. "What are you doing?" they called, staring at you with your eyes closed in deep concentration. "Whatever you're thinking, it's not going to work."

But you were **determined**.

"You can't do this! You only have two options here, Frisk!" Chara called. "Sometimes there is no third option! You need to live with your decisions and suffer the consequences!"

_There_. Your eyes blinked open, and you squinted at Chara, who's confidence was wavering as your mild expression met their building fear. "No, you can't!" they started screaming. "Frisk you can't! This isn't fair! It's not supposed to work this way!"

You reached your soul as high as it had ever gone. Your gaze met Chara's, who screamed at you desperately.

"Frisk, no!"

-QUITTING-

At the empty blackness, you breathed, and a familiar sense of control washed through you. You were alone, but you hoped that would change.

-RESET-

You woke up in a bed of golden flowers.

When Flowey greeted you the usual way as your normal self, you could have hugged him. You didn't, but you let him have his fun and lower your HP before Toriel came to your rescue. Joy sprang in your heart at the sight of her, and you didn't hesitate to hug her even after she just saved you.

You gleefully walked through the Ruins with her, and ran through all the puzzles with ease. Each spare and mercy for the monsters you came across lightened your heart a little more.

You indulged Toriel as long as you could, letting her tell you Snail Facts and eating butterscotch-cinnamon pie and letting her read you a story before you went to bed, but it did not take long for you to feel the calling of the rest of the story weigh heavy on your heart. You couldn't stay here forever.

The battle with Toriel was brief and you did well dodging her attacks, begging her to spare you over and over and over again. When she did return your spare and bid you farewell, you gave her the strongest hug you had ever given her.

When Toriel left, you didn't linger; there was one specific skeleton you needed to see.

You proceeded normally through the first part of Snowdin forest, practically shaking in anticipation as you approached the bridge and the bars made by Papyrus. At the very start of it, you stopped, hearing the familiar crunch of footsteps walking through the snow towards you. Your hands opened and closed nervously as you fidgeted, but you waited.

Finally, the footsteps stopped as you felt the threatening (but familiar) presence behind you. The deep voice breathed quiet words you were achingly familiar with, and were more than happy to turn slowly and shake his hand.

The whoopee cushion farted loudly, tainting the peaceful atmosphere of the forest with it's child-like humor. You let yourself gaze at Sans for the first time after the genocide run as he prattled on about the "ol whoopee cushion in the hand prank". You started to laugh. It was a quiet laugh, an embarrassed one; you might even describe it as shamed laughter, but you felt your mouth upturn anyway at Sans' familiar teasing. His grin widened, pleased at your reception of his joke, but you knew his smile faltered as your soft sounds of laughter melded into quiet sobs.

You tried to hide your emotional 180 by pulling it off as soft laughter, but the crying refused to stop as you pressed your hands into your face and your shoulders shook with the mounting feelings of guilt and stress that the genocide run had put on you.

No. What you had put onto yourself.

Sans' discomfort was obvious, but he tried to hide it as he scratched the back of his skull with his skeletal hand. "hey there, kid. what's eatin' ya?"

You shook your head back and forth quickly, your tear-soaked palms pressed against your warm, red face.

"c'mon, my jokes aren't that bad, are they? reducing you to tears? give a skeleton some slack."

His attempt at teasing and making the situation better only made you feel worse, and your crying increased.

Sans huffed out a breath, finally placing a concerned hand on your shoulder to provide some form of comfort. "hey kid, c'mon. what happened? anything i can do to help?"

You shook your head again quickly, unable to meet his gaze, then stopped, and let yourself nod slowly.

You could feel his relief as his large, bony hand relaxed. "alright then; what's eatin ya?"

Your arms twitched, and you couldn't take it anymore as you stepped boldly into Sans' personal space to wrap your smaller arms as far around his waist as they would go. Despite your arms only managing to wrap around his lower torso, and despite that he was a skeleton, he had a definite huggable form as you squeezed against him. More tears cascaded down your face as you inhaled his familiar scent of ketchup and grease, and you felt his bones vibrate when he spoke.

"man, i never thought the ruins were that intense; i always heard there were less monsters in there that would attack humans. even some that were too afraid to fight at all. they must have given you quite a scare, eh kid?"

Against his jacket, you shook your head again. His large hand touched your scalp to run his fingers through your hair, trying to comfort you and to stop dripping snot all over his clothes. It felt nice and horribly familiar as past time-lines flashed through your mind, but it only made more tears spring to your eyes as you thought of how you had last seen Sans. Collapsed on the floor, blood dripping from his torso and mouth, shaking before you; you, who had just defeated the most powerful monster in the whole Underground.

His body disintegrating into flakes and pieces of gray and dead dust.

Lost in your thoughts, you were jarred back to reality as Sans tapped his bony finger against your forehead. You couldn't face him, settling instead to bury your head into his jacket.

"do you wanna tell me what's going on with you, bud?" he asked. "i mean, i know it's a lot to be asking about personal stuff for first meetings, but, i'm willing to let it slide."

You trembled. With shaky knees and weak legs, you stretched up to your tip toes, pulling Sans down closer so you could whisper words into his ear. Words you knew he would recognize, because he had told you them himself so many timelines ago, and you were just waiting until now to use it.

At the words whispered in his ear, Sans' hand combing through your hair froze, and you backed your head away far enough to see that his eyes had widened in shock. The lights of his sockets were pinpricks in a sea of darkness. He looked at you, his smile held casually in place, "wow kid, that's really immature."

Your lips trembled, and the lump in your throat got bigger as you grabbed tighter onto the smaller skeleton, and before you knew it, apologies were spilling out of your mouth.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. . . I'm so sorry. I'll never do that again I was so stupid I'm sorry, please don't be mad. Please, I'm so sorry." You buried your face against his shirt as more tears fell down your face.

Sans placed a gentle but firm hand on your shoulder, pushing you away a step so he could look at you better. "alright, kid. calm down." You sniffled and wiped your nose along your sleeve. Sans looked you up and down thoughtfully. "looks to me like you've got a load on your shoulders you need to get off. how's about we head over to grillby's and have a little chat?"

You held your hands close to your chest, and managed to give a shaky nod. Sans' grin softened some, and you felt some of the tension ease in you. He nodded his head behind him, back along the path that led to the Ruins. "c'mon this way, i have a shortcut."

You frowned, thinking of Papyrus just a little ways farther down the path. As Sans turned to walk to one of his 'shortcuts,' you reached out to grab the corner of his elbow. He paused, turning to look at you with a raised brow-bone. "eh? what is it, kiddo?"

Wordlessly, you pointed beyond the bridge to where you usually walked. Sans looked to where you pointed, and blinked, "oh, my brother. don't worry about him; he'll be fine. i ditch work all the time, nothing unusual to take an early lunch break."

Slightly reassured, you nodded, and stepped quickly to stand next to Sans. He moved his hand out from his jacket sleeves, "okay, shortcuts can be a little disorienting; i want you to-"

He stopped mid-sentence as you reached up your chilled hand to grab his own. This certainly wasn't your first rodeo when it came to going through Sans' shortcuts; you knew what to do. You stared straight ahead, refusing to look at Sans as you felt his stare weigh heavily on you. His grip over your much smaller hand tightened just enough so you could feel it; you didn't know whether to interpret it as as an angry hand-hold, or a threatening one.

You weren't sure you wanted to know which one.

"you really have done this before, haven't you?" Sans asked, his voice chilling you to the bone.

Squint deepening, you nodded in confirmation.

Sans sighed; his thumb ran along the back of your hand thoughtfully. "alright kid. just. . . hold on i guess."

You didn't respond to his warning, but you were ready as you stepped with him along the pathway in the forest-

And blinked your eyes quickly to adjust to the light of the greasy bar.

There were a handful of monsters inside the bar at this hour, and you could see the bright flame of Grillbz behind the bar counter, cleaning some mugs. He gave no indication of noticing yours and Sans' arrival, but you did see the corner of his glasses glint in your direction.

Sans didn't waste time as he approached the bar swiftly, leaving you to titter after him. You clambered up onto the bar stool, unable to resist the warmth that Grillbz gave off as you stretched out your hands toward him, still trembling from the cold of Snowdin.

"hey kid, thanks for treating me to lunch."

You threw a glare towards Sans, who sniggered smugly before rolling his eyes. "ah, i'm just pullin your funny bone. don't worry; lunch is on me today. Besides, you probably don't have enough gold to cover it, anyway. what'll you be havin'?"

You politely ask Grillbz for a hot cocoa with marshmallows. His flames flicker warmly at you and he seems to turn a brighter yellow before turning to Sans, who places an order of fries.

As soon as Grillbz is out of sight to get working on the cocoa and fries, Sans form slumps over, and he looks at you from the corner of his eye sockets. He doesn't say anything, and you do the same. You twiddle your thumbs, wishing Grillbz would hurry up or Sans would break the silence or something.

It's Grillbz that pulls through first, bringing you your cocoa and sliding Sans his basket of fries. You notice that Grillbz provides the skeleton with a full bottle of ketchup without needing to be asked. Sans is definitely a regular here.

As you lift the steaming mug of cocoa to your mouth, you delight in the warmth that seeps into your cold hands and seems to travel all the way up your arms. As you sip at the drink, the warmth spreads through your torso and banishes the cold that had resided in you. You look gratefully at Grillbz, who senses your satisfaction in the drink, and glows brighter. He moves farther down the counter to wipe it down and to give you two some space.

Sans munches on his fries, and finally decides to break the silence that was building between you. "alright kid. you've got me here, and you're all settled. you gonna tell me what this is all about?"

You take another sip of your cocoa, and begin to confess your sins.

You start at the beginning, like any story would, and explain as well as you can that you've relived this timeline over and over and over again, so many times that you knew every secret the Underground had to offer, knew how many times you had set monsters free, knew how many different 'ends' there were to these timelines.

You explain to Sans the curiosity that had started building in you, wondering what it would be like if, instead of striving for peace, you decided to . . . snap.

You recounted softly, now, what you had done at the reset of the previous timeline, how you mercilessly went out to kill every monster you came across, even ones who had called you friend many times over.

On the counter, Sans' fist tightened more and more until it was clenched up so tightly you thought it might fracture, but you had so much to confess that you had not even gotten to yet.

"Sans. . ." you whispered, shame crawling into your eyes and spilling out in the form of more tears. Ugh, when were you going to stop _crying _today? Your shoulders hunched over your form as you bowed your head in a pitiful way to hide the oncoming sobs. Sans finally turned his head to look at you from the corner of his eye socket. You held the cocoa cup close, and whispered the words you knew he would be most angry about, without a doubt.

"I'm a _dirty brother killer_," you confessed, your voice cracking pitifully.

Sans flinched at your words, but you kept your gaze on the cocoa, unmoving, trembling from the strain to not break into sobs of guilt. It was several moments of tensed-up silence that passed before you could find the courage to turn your eyes to Sans'. The lights in his eyes had sharpened and narrowed until they were just tiny pinpricks surrounded by that -again- sea of darkness. You wanted to reach out to him, wanted some comfort, some reassurance, some hope of forgiveness, but you feared his rejection over all else, so you did nothing, choosing instead to sit quietly at the bar stool, trembling.

Next to you, you could hear Sans' breathing grow shallower. His fingers scraped against the bones of his wrist as he clenched them together, and you shivered reflexively, your mind still hyper-aware of the last timeline's battle. You felt another beat of guilt against your heart.

You were patient, allowing Sans to take his time before he managed to draw in a deep breath, and asked on the exhale, "so. . . how far did you take it?"

You shifted in your seat, and cast your gaze onto your lap, where you twiddled with your thumbs again to distract you from the moment. "Made it all the way to Asgore."

Sans blinked, and you noticed how he trained his eyes right on you, refusing to look anywhere else, refusing to allow the smallest of things to distract him. You felt a heavy lump form in your throat, but you forced yourself to swallow it back down, knowing Sans would probably never fully trust you again.

"he defeated you then? you gave up?"

You shook your head.

Sans already strained smile began to falter. "you defeated him." A statement of a fact, not a question.

You nod. One hit. And you hadn't even been in control of yourself at that point.

You couldn't remember telling your arm to lash out and swipe the knife at the towering king. It was as if someone else were controlling your actions.

Chara, or something else? Something far more sinister and powerful than that?

Sans was frowning at you now, his grin wiped from his face. "so you probably already fought me."

You turned your head again to look his way, guiltily noticing how he flinched at your movement. You tried not to cry. "You were the one closest to convincing me to quit," you informed softly.

"really?"

You nodded, suddenly twisting a hand through the ends of your hair anxiously. "You were the toughest. Of all my . . . friends, I hadn't expected you to be the most difficult to fight, the most powerful. . ."

He almost looked like he was frowning now. "so why did you keep fighting, kid?"

Your lip trembled, "I was so . . . **determined **to see how it would end. But when I reached the end, I, I knew it was all pointless. I realized what I was dong was so wrong, and having. . . _them _finally cleared out of my head seemed to awaken some sense back into me."

Sans frowned at _'them_', and dared to ask, "who, kid?"

Your trembling grew so much more intense that you felt like a Temmie, and fear flushed in a cold swipe down your body. You looked Sans right in the eye. "No," you refused, "they-they come when you c-call."

Something akin to worry flashed in Sans' eyes, and he waved his hands at you, "alright kid, calm down. you-you don't have to say their name or anything. just. . . tell me more about them."

You sip your cocoa, and explain about Chara, how with every act of violence you performed, their control over you would strengthen until it brought you a sick kind of joy to destroy all the monsters left in the Underground. You describe how monsters did not even recognize you as human, because all you had done turned you into something beyond recognition of being human or monster.

"what made you change your mind?" Sans asked softly.

You gazed at him, "Papyrus, Undyne, Alphys, Toriel, Asgore. . . and you. Remembering all we had done together, realizing what I would give up if I continued walking the path I was on. . . I didn't want to lose you guys. You're my. . . you're my only friends." A beat of thought passed, and you came to the only logical conclusion: Chara would have destroyed everything, even you, in the end.

Your curiosity was satisfied, and it wasn't worth losing your SOUL over to complete the very end of Chara's twisted path.

Uncomfortable, you pulled your feet up so your legs pushed against your chest so you were almost in a fetal position on the bar stool. You buried your head on your knees, sniffling.

"I'm sorry," you cried quietly, your face burning red. "I'm so sorry. Please don't be angry. I'm sorry. Please please please don't be mad. I'll never do it again, I'm-"

Your words were cut off as Sans scooped you into his arms so you were curled up in his lap. He wrapped heavy arms around you, offering you security by holding you strong and close. Your initial reaction was a flash of panic, thinking back to his SPARE, wondering if he was going to end your life the same way here as he did then. You stiffened, then relaxed some as you accepted and acknowledged the fact you deserved it.

"hey." Sans spoke in a low rumble, his words vibrating his bones and cutting off your darkening thoughts. Your ear pressed against his ribs and the feeling the vibrations make caused you to think of a cat purring, and you were comforted.

"i'm not angry, kid. i'm not mad." He rocked you a little as he held you. One hand wrapped around you while the other rested at the crown of your head. Your eyes were dry and irritated from crying so much, and it hurt as more tears formed there. "i know you'll never do it again, kid. i know you won't."

You shook your head and your voice croaked. "I won't. Promise I never will ever again."

"and i'll hold you to it," he teased softly, and a laugh-like sob escaped your mouth as you pressed closer to the skeleton.

You're content to stay with Sans like that forever, comforted by his embrace, his hand stroking your hair. He finally shifted his position, "c'mon. let's get outta here. it's almost night-time. you need a place to stay?"

You nodded against his torso.

A genuine grin pulled up in San's smile again. "alright. lets take you home, then."

You looked up at him; no doubt your red eyes, blotchy face and snotty nose were a view to behold. "What about Papyrus?" you asked.

Sans grin widened. "Eh, we'll just tell him that since _I _captured you, I get to decide what to do with you, and today, we're going to make sure you're in tip-top condition before we have to present you to Undyne."

A smile cracked the frown on your face. "How long will that take?"

Sans lilted his head up in fake-contemplation, "oh, who knows. could be a week, however long it takes for you to be ready to go to her."

You smiled a little more, and then it fell. "I don't have to stay in the garage, do I?"

Sans laughed and winked at you. "nah, kid. there's a couch at home with your name written on it."

You tried to smile, but it wavered, awed as you were by Sans' trust and forgiveness to you. Sans caught a glimpse of your teary smile, and allowed his hand to reach out so it cupped your face. His thumb brushed away the tear that made a salty trail down your cheek, and you choked back a sob, already embarrassed.

You needed one more hug, and Sans didn't protest as he held you for just a little while longer.

With the comforting feel of his arms around you, you released the choked up breath that seemed trapped in your chest, and let your body relax into his embrace. The tears going down your face began to slow, and you hiccuped as you got your breath back so you could reign in control of your body.

"I've got you, kiddo," Sans rumbled against you, managing to pull your body closer to his. The skeleton released his own pent-up sigh so his form relaxed against yours. It was like there was something in him that was finally being accepted, or admitting defeat. He let out another sigh.

"I've got you."

**yeah so this has been on my laptop for-ev-er, so i finally decided to upload it. might as well throw it out there for people to read than let it sit doing nothing. **

**hope you enjoyed it, don't forget to review below and let me know what you thought of this self-indulgent fic. i know what i'm about. **

**i never did the genocide run myself, only saw people play it on youtube (jacksepticeye), but i wanted to write a fic of my emotional turmoil from watching it. **

**totally self-indulgent and ooc for sans i think in hindsight now, but i wrote this back in like 2016 so i dont care. xD i just enjoyed writing it and reading it and i hope you guys get some kind of entertainment from it, too :p **


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